Homily – Fourth Sunday of Easter (A) – Good Shepherd Sunday

Gift and Mystery

 “Every vocation to the priesthood is a great mystery; it is a gift which infinitely transcends the individual. Every priest experiences this clearly throughout the course of his life. Faced with the greatness of the gift, we sense our own inadequacy.” – Pope John Paul II

I came across this quote from a book gifted to me after the Easter Triduum, written by Pope John Paul II titled Gift & Mystery: On the Fiftieth Anniversary of my Priestly Ordination.  Though I’m only an infant in terms of priesthood, the first few pages of the book prompted me to reflect once again on the gift and mystery of my own vocation.  It is a gift as it comes from God, yet it remains a mystery as to why God calls specific people to a certain state, situation and vocation.

Good Shepherd Sunday invites us all to reflect, listen and respond to the voice of God calling each of us, one by one, which often sounds like a silent whisper.  Traditionally, across the Archdiocese of Melbourne, seminarians and religious are sent to different parishes to share their own stories regarding their vocation and calling from God.  Unfortunately, we don’t have a seminarian this year and so I am offering you my story to read!

My Vocation Story

My vocation to the priesthood is a great gift but it’s also very mysterious for someone who grew up far from being a religious fanatic.  Despite coming from a Filipino background with Catholicism playing a huge part in our culture, faith in my life was very minimal.  Much of my childhood and adolescence were spent on the more popular religion of sport and basketball was my main spirituality.

It wasn’t until my first year of university that I began to take faith more seriously.  I was invited to my local parish’s youth group in Mill Park.  Similar to many of my age at that time, and maybe even now, I found there was a stereotype surrounding religion and enthusiastic Christians; something I never wanted to associate myself with.  However, attendance at this group broke down that stigma.  Part of that night involved discussing matters on faith and morals while inviting deeper reflection on our relationship with God.  I had never shared something like that so openly before and from there the seeds of faith began, kickstarting my passion to learn more about the faith.  I then started to attend Sunday Mass independently, learnt more about the catechism and discovered more about the sacraments receiving reconciliation once again after many years since my first.

Towards the end of university, I considered applying for the seminary but I backed out because I wanted to gain more work and life experience.  Fortunately, I obtained a job in accounting, focusing mainly in tax and small businesses.  After a few years as an accountant, I realised spreadsheets and balancing the books were not enough to quench my thirst for life.  I weighed different options but the idea of priesthood continued to loom and I thought I must give this serious consideration.  I decided to apply for the seminary and entered at 25 years old with an open mind intending to discern and review each year whether I should continue or leave my studies.

The end of my first year of seminary proved to be influential.  We were required to attend a silent retreat based on a modified version of the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola, at the Campion Centre of Ignatian Spirituality in Kew.  Throughout the retreat, I remembered the many times God had been generous to me throughout my life.  As the retreat progressed, it also invited me to consider those times where I may have lived short according to God’s love.  There were many instances where I didn’t and I realised God had always remained generous to me throughout my life.  I was deeply moved by this and wanted to give my life back to Him.  Quickly I thought this might be achieved as a lay person, family man, husband and father, but when I thought about the priesthood again, it was the vocation that gave me the greater sense of peace.  Ever since then, I’ve held onto that moment and regarded that time as God calling me to the priesthood.

In my limited experience, I can say the priesthood is truly life-giving.  I find as a priest we have the capacity to inspire and give words of comfort in homilies and pastoral conversations; bring people into a new birth as sons and daughters of God in baptism; give Jesus in the Holy Eucharist; lift the burdens of sin in Reconciliation; bring man and woman into spouses in Matrimony; and comfort the sick, dying and dead through Anointing and funerals.  However, priesthood also has its challenges.  One of the main difficulties I have at the moment is the task of preaching; communicating the scriptures, faith and morals with creativity while remaining faithful to the church.  Another is finding the right words to give consolation in pastoral situations.

Pray for Vocations

Good Shepherd Sunday is just not limited to the priesthood.  It is also a consideration of each one’s vocation to best serve God and others in the world, although our calling will always remain a mystery.  It is difficult to explain clearly why someone would give up the pursuit of a career, family and wealth for God because without faith it is quite insane.  To this day, I still don’t know why and will probably never understand why priesthood is my calling and why this is the life I must fulfill.  I can never articulate appropriately this spiritual state but I guess this is all a part of appreciating the gift and mystery of vocation.

This weekend let us continue to pray that all may hear God’s voice, respond generously and bring their calling and vocation to fulfillment.

By Fr Ian Vergel